Field of Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate generally to pattern-recognition processors and, more specifically, in certain embodiments, to pattern-recognition processors with a results buffer.
Description of Related Art
In the field of computing, pattern recognition tasks are increasingly challenging. Ever larger volumes of data are transmitted between computers, and the number of patterns that users wish to identify is increasing. For example, spam or malware are often detected by searching for patterns in a data stream, e.g., particular phrases or pieces of code. The number of patterns increases with the variety of spam and malware, as new patterns may be implemented to search for new variants. Searching a data stream for each of these patterns can form a computing bottleneck. Often, as the data stream is received, it is searched for each pattern, one at a time. The delay before the system is ready to search the next portion of the data stream increases with the number of patterns. Thus, pattern recognition may slow the receipt of data.
Pattern recognition tasks are often complicated by the irregular occurrence of matches. Certain data streams may match several patterns in short succession, and reporting these matches or otherwise acting on these matches may be difficult, as other portions of the system may not respond as quickly as new matches are occurring. In other instances, a data stream may be received for a relatively long period of time before a match occurs, leaving capacity of other components to process matches unused. The irregular flow of results data during pattern recognition makes it difficult to design systems that interface with pattern-recognition hardware.